Son was ready to topple Saddam

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Los Angeles: The eldest son of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
was plotting to overthrow his father as US troops advanced on
Baghdad in March 2003, the journalist Peter Arnett says.

Uday Hussein, known for his ruthlessness and flashy lifestyle,
had the support of the leadership of his father's Fedayeen militia
to overthrow the dictator, an article in the April issue of
Playboy magazine says.

The controversial Arnett, who was fired by the US Cable News
Network in 2003 after suggesting the US war plan in Iraq had
failed, made the claim following an 18-month investigation in which
he says he gained access to Uday Hussein's inner circle.

He quotes a letter from the Saddam Fedayeen commander, General
Maki Humudat, dated March 26, 2003, in which he swore allegiance to
a new Iraqi government under the control of Uday Hussein.

"According to your direction and command to form a new
government under the leadership of Your Excellency [Uday], we have
informed all the senior officers of the Saddam Fedayeen of your
desire to appoint them as your candidates for office in your
government," the letter said.

Uday had planned to announce his seizure of power the same day,
but was thwarted when US jets bombed his Youth TV studios in
Baghdad, Arnett says.

The ambitious heir had even formed a shadow government on the
outskirts of the capital that was disguised under the cover of his
powerful Iraqi National Olympic Committee and funded by murky oil
deals, Arnett writes.

Uday and his brother Qusay fled Baghdad with their father as the
Baath party military machine collapsed ahead of the US seizure of
the city in early April.

The brothers were killed in the northern city of Mosul on July
22, 2003, while Saddam Hussein was captured that December.